A LEAP OF FAITH

Thirteenth Step

Thirteenth Step

Seoul, Korea

May 25, 2003

10:30 p.m.

Jung Jin

"Don't you order me around," I said, trying to keep my voice as firm as possible. "If you're going to do that, at least promise to stay with me forever first then order me around."

It was supposed to make her laugh, but it only made her cry again. I held back a chuckle. I couldn't help it. She looked so adorable crying and I was so happy I felt like a lunatic.

She looked up at me with her red rimmed eyes and red nose, looking so forlorn I couldn't help but quiet down. It would not do to laugh at a woman who made the journey from across the world just to be here for my birthday.

"Saranghae."

The phrase came out so naturally from her mouth it was as if she'd been saying it all our lives, but it took me aback. Something about the fact that she said it in my native language made it feel more loaded, weighted somehow. I struggled to keep my face composed; it felt like I was about to burst from happiness.

Still, I felt my mouth lift up in a lopsided grin, joy filling every surface of my body. I placed my lips on her forehead and leaned in, savoring the feel of her against me, the smell of her hair, so foreign again now and yet still so familiar.

How did this happen? Was this really happening?

How was it that just a few minutes ago I was trying to get to the airport so that I can get to her not realizing this whole time that she was on her way to me?

Was this fate or serendipity? I asked myself. Fate, I thought. Definitely fate... And really good timing. Thank God.

So many things could have gone wrong. I could have not come back to the penthouse. Her flight could have been delayed. I could have already flown out before she could catch me. Even such a small thing as the elevator coming a second earlier or later and I could have missed her altogether.

But it didn't and I didn't and she didn't. And now she was telling me she loved me. And I still hadn't answered her back.

"Nado," I said, my lips still pressed on her forehead.

"Nado?" Her voice bounced off my chest and I wrapped my arms more securely around her and rested my chin on the top of her head. "What does that mean?

I pulled away so that I could look at her face. "I thought you learned Korean?"

"I only know that one phrase," she said sheepishly.

"Me too."

"But you speak fluent Korean!"

I chuckled as a blush covered her face, painting her cheeks a rosy red. "It means me, too," he whispered, a hand on my cheek. "I love you too."

Her eyes widened in genuine disbelief. "You do?" I nodded and watched with a bit of concern as her eyes filled up with tears and she hid her face against my shirt. "It's just..." Her fingers curled into a fist and she banged on my chest. "Where the hell were you?" she asked. "Why did it take so long for you to find me? You should have come before!"

"I should be asking you the same question," I said, taking her fist and placing a kiss directly on the center of her palm. "If it was up to me we'd have met a decade ago."

I felt her shake her head. "I'm not even a crybaby normally," she mumbled against me, "so I don't know why I'm like this right now. I was just so sad and stressed and now I'm so happy and I don't know what to do with myself. Or you. I don't know what to do with you."